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Role Playing
Roleplaying is the art of telling a story together with other players. It can be done solo, but is usually done in groups of two or three, or more in the case of parties and weddings. Sometimes the story may be written in advance, but most roleplay is created in a very organic way, with the writers not knowing what is going to happen, and merely reacting to the events that other characters in that thread have written. Roleplay in Renaissance Kingdoms is a popular activity, ranging from local town romances and parties up to grand battles and matters of international importance. There are many RP groups and guilds that are very willing to help the beginner, and a good start is to create a "house" thread in your home town and invite the locals round to visit. Also, if you read an RP thread in your town that you particularly enjoy, you could contact the writers and ask them for guidance, or even ask if you can join in. Many other RK organisations such as militas and Knighthoods also organise roleplay events for their members. Marking RP Threads Roleplay threads are usually marked to give some idea of content. RP is a general RP thread, and it can sometimes have a parallel OOC thread for out of character comments and discussion. ORP is an open RP, where people are allowed to write themselves in as they see fit (any thread just marked RP is assumed to be ORP), while CRP is a closed RP, which is invite-only. FRP is a fantasy RP. These are now usually confined to the Weald. In normal RK RP, some “magic” is allowed, but only that which could realistically be done. For example, if a character were to make something disappear by thinking about it, "Harry Potter" style, that is FRP. If she were to make something disappear by sleight of hand, that is normal RP. If a God were to appear before her and the whole town saw it, that would be FRP. If a God were to appear before her and it was merely a hallucination of hers, that would be normal RP. She can believe that she has had a divine visitation – people of the 1400s were very superstitious – but it can’t be “real”. So, any superhuman powers are not allowed. But conjuring, flash powder, for example, are allowed. Having visions and dreams are allowed. Even “telling the future” is allowed, because the writer can make it so that the future actually happens that way. The sceptic could say it was “just a coincidence”. Godmodding and Wyrming These are considered very poor and impolite RP, and should be avoided. Beginners are given some leeway, but are encouraged to lose these bad habits as soon as possible if they wish to take part in more involved RP in the future. Godmodding is forcing other characters to do something against their will. If a character were to throw a custard pie at another and say “it hits him splat in the face”, that is godmodding. The first character has, through their post, not given the second a chance to choose his fate. To avoid godmodding, what should be done is something like: “I threw a custard pie at him, it was heading straight for his face…” and he then has the choice of taking it or ducking. Each character should have the chance to choose their own fate. This makes fights difficult of course, unless the outcome is decided in advance by agreement or some kind of randomisation. In the case of someone needing to godmod, for example when kidnapping another character, permission should be sought, and it is a good idea to make an OOC comment at the bottom to say that permission to godmod has been given. Wyrming is when your character acts on things they can’t possibly know about. For example, if someone whispers to someone else in the same room, a character could RP that they overheard the conversation. If, however, the information was passed by a sealed letter, that character can’t RP based on the contents of the letter, because the character has no way of knowing what’s in that letter. Threadjacking This, as its name suggests, is hijacking of a thread, and is basically an extreme form of godmodding. An example would be if a thread that was clearly a wedding was suddenly overrun by bandits. Complaints about threadjacking should be directed to a local censor, who will then review the thread and remove any posts considered to be excessive godmodding. The person who started the thread is usually the one held to have the "editorial control". Bear in mind that permission to godmod may have been given; it may be a plot twist that was planned all along. Timeshift Some RPs, for example a Grand Ball, may take many weeks or even months to write, but only refer to the events of a few hours or days. This can cause difficulties for players who then have to reconcile subsequent events in their personal timelines, and will sometimes write OOC comments at the bottom of a post to say where they are in their personal timeline, for example "(OOC This is before my wedding but after my father's kidnapping)". Examples of this might be if a character is courting another at a dance, and the writing of the dance thread goes on for some time. If in their personal futures they are to split up, one character may have to write themselves out, or they may have to carry on writing for the duration of the dance RP as if they were still together. It is possible for a character to be writing two events months apart in their personal timeline simultaneously. This can mean that RP's in the "future" of the RP may have to change to take into account things that happen as the first RP is taking place. A person could be writing about another character saying they had never met, and then in the "past" RP if that character is to arrive, then the "future" RP would have to be changed to take that into account. Editing should be done only if necessary; it is much better to RP these things in, for example "Oh, wait, I remember him! I met him at the Ball two months ago...". This of course can cause difficulties, and prominent roleplayers have to be very clear about where each thread happens in their personal timeline, and may have to request other characters to edit appropriately. People writing a complicated RP together will often discuss plot changes and timeshifts off-forum to minimise problems. Threadomancy This is the resurrection of threads that have been dormant for a long time. It is usually not advisable, as it can cause timeshift problems, but there are cases where threadomancy is acceptable. For example, if a character is away from town for a long time and then returns, they may of course start posting in their house thread again. It is usually a good idea to "draw a line" under previous posts by writing something like "Some months later" or "After the quest was over" to make the difference in times clearer. es:RolePlay Category:Jargon